Roman shades are of the type characterized by being segmented and pleated wherein the shade may be opened and closed by progressively raising and lowering the segmented body from the lowermost segment. The pleats used in conventional Roman shade designs utilize such means as metal and wooden slats to maintain the straightness of the horizontal folds into which the shade segments are gathered when the shade is being raised or lowered. The shades are generally drawn with pull strings guided by string guides. Conventional Roman shades pose challenges in their method of manufacture and are sometime awkward to handle and to assemble or disassemble. The method of manufacture of such shades has evolved to some extent because of the relatively large number of steps in known manufacturing techniques, including the sewing of material to make the facing body of the shade, methods of securing the shades to string guides and drawstrings, and the method of manufacture of the pleats. Improvements in construction have been achieved as exemplified in U.S. Pat. No. 3,777,800 to Susoev and U.S. Pat. No. 4,069,857 to Brookshire. However, as exemplified by these patents, the former requires the use of battens and stitched pockets for receiving the battens and the latter requires the use of a plastic sheet material in its method of construction. A need still exists for a shade which provides an improved durable pleat retention assembly neither requiring sewing or other tedious processes in its construction nor limiting the facing material to a plastic sheet. It is important that the shade construction results in a precise shade having straight and durable folds and pleats.
It is an object of this invention to provide a shade design with the aforementioned characteristics and which yields substantial savings in manufacturing material and labor costs. It is a specific object of this invention to provide an improved manner of pleat retainment utilizing inexpensive material and an efficient method of construction thereof. It is a further object of this invention to provide an aesthetically pleasing design for the Roman shade.